


Dreaming of You

by Kumikoko



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Armin Centric, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 05:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6786916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kumikoko/pseuds/Kumikoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin meets a woman that bears a strong resemblance to his mother, one he can not ignore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreaming of You

**Author's Note:**

> I sort of realized no one really writes about Armin's parents. I suppose this might be because there is still a huge debate over what actually happened to Armin's parents. The Anime and Manga seem to give differing answers to this question. What I figure, based on everything, is that Armin's parents met a similar fate to Armin's Grandfather. Armin was told his parents were going outside, because he was young, and did not need to be told that they were actually becoming titan food. But obviously Armin figured it out that that's exactly what happened. Whatever the case though, I wanted to write this one-shot so enjoy? 
> 
> Possible spoilers for chapter 80 but not really.

**Dreaming of You**

A light rain drizzled on to the cobblestone streets of the quiet town.

Many people had retreated indoors to avoid the rain and the mud that would follow. These mothers kept their children inside the homes, apprehensive of the trouble their kids could get into if they were left to run amok outside in such dreary weather.

 _Where am I? Am I…home_? Armin wondered with hopeful anticipation as he looked at the buildings he knew well from his memory. He stood calm at a four-way intersection, where he could see how empty the streets and shops were.

The butcher shop was just down the road from where he stood now, and the bakery wasn’t far either. If he recalled right, the home he was born in was to the left, and Eren’s house was just a mile away.

 _I have to see my house_. Armin decided suddenly, and headed down the wet street with renewed vigor. _Maybe mother is home…or father_ …Armin wished silently, while his heart thrummed hard against his chest with hope.

Never did he pause in his pursuit to go home to realize that he was fifteen, and that his hometown of Shiganshina had been long ago destroyed by people he thought were his friends. Armin stopped upon seeing the market place that he and his family would shop at. There were many merchants that had closed their shop up for the day, because rain did not have a tendency to bring customers in.

A couple vendors were open though, and a couple customers were scattered about them, inspecting the fruits and wares that were for sale. Armin was about to continue his quest home when he noticed a woman with blonde hair. A small, blonde haired child was standing next to her, holding on to her skirt. Armin knew many families looked like his own family, and that he should just continue home. He did not move, though, mesmerized by the familiarity of the duo that were fruit shopping.

The mother was buying strawberries for the boy. This was not a unusual scene, but it did spark a memory within Armin that he had almost forgotten;

 _On a rainy day like this, mother bought me strawberries for my fifth birthday_.

Strawberries were an expensive fruit because they were sweet, and heavily sought after, which made them only plausible for Armin to eat on special days. Armin walked up to the vendor and dug his hand into his white jeans, hoping to scrounge enough money for a taste of familiarity. He held the coins he fished out of his pants pocket in the palm of his hand.

A single glance was all it took for Armin to know the strawberries were not affordable to him. He sighed, and figured he should just continue on home.

“No strawberries for you?” The merchant observed, slightly disappointed to not be receiving more money.

“Oh, I—I’ll come back later.” Armin said, in an attempt to hide the fact that he couldn’t afford to buy a single strawberry.

“Here.”

“Huh?” Armin turned and realized the woman and child were still present. Armin’s pride made his face flush red, for he knew they must have witnessed first hand that a soldier could not buy strawberries.

He had assumed they left. Why hadn’t they left?

The woman, who shockingly to Armin, resembled his mother, held her hand out to him, a couple of strawberries laying on her delicate palm. The young child was hiding behind his mother, and was clinging to her leg with one arm, while the other hand was used to hold a strawberry to his mouth. Armin froze as another faded memory surfaced within his mind.

 _That same day, mother offered strawberries to a soldier. I was too shy to look at the man’s face, so I ate my strawberry and clung to mother. Am I…that soldier_? Armin wondered with shock at the similarity of his memory, in light of this scenario. _Is such a thing even possible_? Armin questioned quietly, and for the first time tried to figure out why he was here, _here_ that should not exist.

“Go on, you can take it. I have plenty for my son.” The woman offered, referring to the strawberries on her hand. Armin tentatively plucked the fruit from her, and glanced down at the boy, but the blonde curtain of hair covered his eyes, and essentially, his identity. “He just turned five today. He is reading already. I think he will be a really intelligent man.” The woman gushed with pride, and gestured to the little boy clinging to her leg.

A small nod was the only way Armin could respond, because he swore he remembered his own mother saying the same thing about him all of those years ago.

“What if he does not meet your expectations?” Armin found himself asking, as his own insecurities surfaced.

“He already has.” The woman responded happily, and picked the child up, holding him close. The boy buried his face against her collarbone.

“What if he became a soldier?” Armin questioned urgently, needing to know what the woman thought of her son becoming a soldier.

“I would support him. He’s my dream come true, after all.” She kissed her son’s head, and smiled upon hearing his innocent giggle.

 _Am I_? Armin wondered, blurring the lines between reality and memories for a moment.

“Go see your father,” The woman told the child in her arms, as she lowered him to the ground. The boy nodded with understanding and ran over to the other vendor, where a man stood, observing necklaces.

“I…I miss my mom.” Armin murmured sorrowfully, and turned his gaze to the ground. He felt forlorn, and alone.

Suddenly, a pair of warm arms curled around his body. “I am _so_ sorry.” The woman stated sincerely, surprising Armin. “I did not want to leave you alone in this world.”

“Wh-what?” Armin sputtered with a painful mixture of hope, and confusion.

“You became a fine young soldier, and I am proud of you.” The woman said, and pulled away just enough to look into Armin’s eyes. “You’re fighting for humanity’s sake because I died, right?”

All Armin could do was nod numbly, stunned from the woman—his mother’s confession.

“Father, and my parents must have died too, because all of us would have taken care of you, had we lived. Something happened though that robbed you of us. I can figure that much out on my own, and it was sudden too.” The woman explained as she affectionately pushed some of Armin’s wet hair out of his face.

“Y-yeah…you and father died first…Grandpa raised me for a year before he died too…” Armin admitted, as his heart clenched with unbearable sadness. He wanted to cry at the unjust way his life had played out.

“I am sorry. I really am. I hoped to see you marry, and lead a happy life like I did with your father.” She said, as she held him closer. Armin wrapped his own arms around her and clung tightly to her, the way he did when he was young.

“That isn’t possible for me. I chose the Scouting Regiment. It’s only a matter of time before I die. I’m so weak…” Armin told her, and trembled with how miserable he felt.

“Don’t be scared, Armin. Your family will be waiting for you when you die.” She promised him, and began to rub his back in an attempt to comfort him. “And please, do not talk about yourself like that. I love you, and am proud of who you have become. Don’t doubt yourself any more, or I won’t be able to rest in peace.”

The loving words tugged on Armin’s heartstrings. They were words he desperately wanted, needed to hear. He buried his face against her neck and cried, with no thought to how all of this was realistically not plausible.

“Is there anything I can do to make our short time together happier for you?” The woman asked, and with her head gestured to the little boy clinging to his fathers leg. Armin shook his head.

“No…I was a happy child.” Armin admitted, and held tightly to her.

Just as Armin began to feel the rain on his skin, light infiltrated his vision.

“Ow, ow, ow!” Armin shouted as he rolled on to his side, and coughed.

“Armin! You’re alive.” Eren exclaimed with relief, and hugged Armin, who shouted in pain again. “Mikasa said you fell, and that—that you weren’t responding…but you’re back! I am so glad.” Eren told his best friend, and finally let him go.

“I…I’m not…where…what…” Dazed, Armin looked around, seeing he really was in his hometown. The town was thoroughly destroyed during the battle for humanity.

 _Was I dreaming_? Armin wondered, and placed his hand over his head.

“Welcome back to the living, Kid.” Levi said, arms folded against his chest.

Armin remembered vaguely he had fallen because of the brutal heat wave the Colossus titan exuded. They had been fighting him.

Everyone looked like hell, but they were alive.

That was reality.

Their reality.


End file.
